Systems and methods to enroll users for real time communications connections

ABSTRACT

A computing apparatus uses an interactive user assessment test to identify and/or assess the need and skills of the user as part of an enrollment process for the user to register for the services of the system that provides real time communications connections between users and advisers. The advisers provide coaching services over real time communications connections provided via the system. A recommendation engine is configured to use the assessment results to recommend advisers for the user based on the need and skills of the user, as well as the real time availability of the advisers to provide the coaching services.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/166,775, filed May 27, 2016, issued Dec. 5, 2017as U.S. Pat. No. 9,838,540 and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO ENROLLUSERS FOR REAL TIME COMMUNICATIONS CONNECTIONS,” which claims thebenefit of the filing date of Prov. U.S. Pat. App. Ser. No. 62/167,047,filed May 27, 2015 and entitled “Systems and Methods to Enroll Users forReal Time Communications Connections”, the entire disclosure of whichapplications is hereby incorporated herein by references.

FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY

At least some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to real-timecommunication systems in general and, more specifically but not limitedto, enrolling users for real-time communications connections.

BACKGROUND

U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,165, entitled “Method and apparatus to connectconsumer to expert”, discloses a server which can store and displayinformation about experts and assist in connecting the expert andconsumer for real-time communication. In response to a keyword search ora category selection, the server presents a list of experts, includinginformation such as availability, avatar, certification, compensationrate, quality score, etc. of the experts. After a consumer selects anexpert from the list, a central controller places a telephone call tothe consumer and a separate telephone call to the expert to establish atelephonic connection between the consumer and the expert. The centralcontroller may monitor the duration of the telephonic connection tocharge the consumer in accordance with the compensation rate of theexpert and the length of the duration, and compensate the expertaccordingly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe figures of the accompanying drawings in which like referencesindicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 shows a system in which techniques of various embodiments areimplemented.

FIG. 2 illustrates a user interface to present advisers according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a method to reduce collisions in establishing real-timecommunication connections according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows another method to reduce collisions in establishingreal-time communication connections according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows a further method to reduce collisions in establishingreal-time communication connections according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a method to select a user for establishing a real timecommunication connection to an adviser according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows a system to monitor the quality of services provided inreal time communication connections according to one embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a method to provide a refund for unsatisfied servicesaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows a method to detect dissatisfaction to provide an automaticrefund according to one embodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates a data processing system according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 11 shows a system to enroll users for real time communicationconnections with advisers according to one embodiment.

FIG. 12 shows a method to enroll users for real time communicationconnections with advisers according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not tobe construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described toprovide a thorough understanding. However, in certain instances, wellknown or conventional details are not described in order to avoidobscuring the description. References to one or an embodiment in thepresent disclosure are not necessarily references to the sameembodiment; and, such references mean at least one.

In a communication system in which advisers are presented to customersconcurrently for selectively establishing real time communicationconnections based on user inputs, there are frequent collisions indifferent users being in processes leading to real time communicationconnections to a same adviser.

At least some embodiments of the present disclosure provide techniquesto avoid, reduced, and/or resolve collisions of processes leading toreal time communication connections to the same adviser.

FIG. 1 shows a system in which techniques of various embodiments areimplemented to avoid collisions in establishing real-time communicationconnections.

In FIG. 1, a data store (109) is configured to store the listings ofadvisers. A web server (101) is configured to present the listings ofthe advisers to the user browsers (111, . . . , 121) via the internet(105).

For example, the user browsers (111, . . . , 121) may be used to searchfor advisers offering services based on keywords, categories, topics,customer ratings, description, certification, expertise, prices, etc.

In view of the presentation of the advisers in the user browsers (111, .. . , 121), the users of the respective user browsers (111, . . . , 121)may selectively identify advisers and request the connection server(103) to establish connections between the users and the selectedadvisers.

For example, a user may use a user browser (111) to select an adviserbased on a listing presented in the user browser (111), and identify theuser phone (113) (e.g., by providing the phone number of the user phone(113)). An adviser phone (115) of the selected adviser is identified,for example, based on a phone number associated with the listing of theadviser in the data store (109). The connection server (103) isconfigured to call the user phone (113) and the adviser phone (115)separately and then bridge the calls to establish a telephonicconnection between the user phone (113) and the adviser phone (115) viathe telecommunication network (107).

The adviser phones (115, . . . , 125) and the user phones (113, . . . ,123) may be connected to traditional land-line of telephone networks,wireless telecommunication networks for mobile phones (e.g., cellularphones, smart phones), or data communication networks connected tocomputing devices running soft phones (e.g., via Voice over InternetProtocol or other communication protocols).

The user browsers (111, . . . , 121) may run in the same computingdevices on which the respective user phones (113, . . . , 123) of theusers are implemented, or in computing devices separate from the userphones (113, . . . , 123).

FIG. 1 illustrates a system to establish telephonic connections for realtime communications. Alternatively or in combination, the user phones(113, . . . , 123) and the adviser phones (115, . . . , 125) can bereplaced with computing devices, such as computers, smart phones, tabletcomputers, digital media players, personal digital assistants, etc., forother forms of real time communications, such as instant messaging, textchat, video chat, etc.

Collision Avoidance

In one embodiment, there is a time gap between a user selecting anadviser via the user browser (111) and the connection server (103)attempting to establish a connection to the adviser phone (115) of theselected adviser.

Between the time gap the web server (101) is configured to identify theuser, register the user as a member if the user is not alreadyregistered, verifying a source of payment of the user for the servicesto be provided by the selected adviser, obtain the phone number of theuser phone (113), etc.

Between the time gap the connection server (103) is configured toestablish a telephonic connection with the user phone (113) via thetelecommunication network (107).

In some embodiments, the connection server (103) initiates the call tothe user phone (113) identified by the user via the user browser (111),or stored in the data store (109) in association with an account of theuser.

In some embodiments, the web server (101) may present a phone number ofthe connection server (103) to request the user to call the connectionserver (103) to establish the telephonic connection between the userphone (113).

After the telephonic connection between the user phone (113) isestablished, the connection server (103) is configured to verify theidentity of the user (101), identify a source of payment for theservices of the system and the adviser, and/or obtain an approval fromthe user to bill the source of payment in accordance with a compensationrate of the adviser, etc.

In general, after the user selects the adviser using the user browser(111), the system may fail to reach the execution point to establish aconnection to the adviser phone (115) for various reasons, such as theuser refuses to register, the user refuses to identify a source ofpayment, the user fails to pick up the call placed by the connectionserver (103) to the user phone (113), the user fails to call theconnection server (103) from the user phone (113), the user fails toprovide information for identity verification in the telephonicconnection between the connection server (103) and the user phone (113),the user fails to approve the compensation rate of the adviser over thetelephonic connection between the connection server (103) and the userphone (113), etc.

In general, there is a significant time gap between the user selectingthe adviser and the connecting server (103) attempting a connection tothe adviser phone (115); and there is a significant uncertainty aswhether the connection process staring from the user selecting theadviser using the user browser (111) will successfully reach the pointwhere the connection server (103) establishes the connection to theadviser phone (115).

After the connection between the connection server (103) and the adviserphone (115) is established, the corresponding adviser can be consideredbeing unavailable for real time communications with other users.However, it is generally not desirable to consider the adviser selectedby the user for connection as being unavailable, due to the significanttime gap and the uncertainty discussed above.

In one embodiment, if the adviser indicates to the web server (101) thatthe adviser is available for real time communications with customers,and the connection server (103) has not yet established a connectionwith the adviser phone (115), the adviser is considered to be availablefor real time communications with other users, even after the userselecting the adviser using the user browser (111). Thus, the advisercan be presented to other users during the time gap between the userselecting the adviser and the connecting server (103) attempting aconnection to the adviser phone (115). Such presentations increase thesuccess rate of the adviser reaching a customer and reduce the timeperiod the adviser has to wait to reach a customer, due to theuncertainty in the user (and other users) finally being connected to theadviser, and the significant time gap between a user selecting theadviser and the user can be actually connected to the adviser.

However, presenting the adviser concurrently to multiple userssignificantly increases the possibility that more than one user willselect the adviser, leading to a collision where a first user phone(e.g., 113) is currently being connected to the adviser phone (115),while a second user phone (e.g., 123) is ready to be connected to thesame adviser phone (115).

In one embodiment, to reduce the chance of collision, the system isconfigured to reduce the time gap between the user selecting the adviserand the connection server (103) connecting the user phone (113) to theadviser phone (115).

For example, the web server (101) and the connection server (103) areconfigured to reduce the operations to be performed between the userselecting the adviser and the connection server (103) connecting theuser phone (113) to the adviser phone (115).

For example, the system may be configured to require the user (101) toregister prior to selecting a particular adviser, or require the user(101) to confirm a selection of the adviser after the registration.

In one embodiment, the system is configured to customize the order ofpresentations of listings to reduce the chance of collisions, as furtherdiscussed below.

FIG. 2 illustrates a user interface to present advisers according to oneembodiment.

In FIG. 2, the user interface presents the listings of a plurality ofadvisers as a list. Each listing of an adviser may include content suchas an image (201) representing the adviser, a topic (203) of adviceoffered by the adviser, a name (205) of the adviser, a rating (207) ofthe adviser by former customers of the adviser, the availability (209)of the adviser at the time the listing is presented in the userinterface, the compensation price (213) of the adviser, a description(211) provided by the adviser about the services offered by the adviser,a “call now” button (215) that can be activated to select the advertiserfor a connection to the adviser.

In one embodiment, the listings of different advisers are ranked andpresented in accordance with the rankings of the advisers.

For example, the advisers may be ranked based on price (213), customerrating (207), availability (209), degree of matching with the searchcriteria specified by the user, and/or advertising bids of the advisers.

When user browsers (111, . . . , 121) submit similar search requests,the ranked and sorted list of the listings of advisers may appear insimilar orders. Since the users are likely to select the top advisers inthe list, the chance of collision increases when the lists presented todifferent users showing the same adviser at the top of the lists thatare presented substantially concurrently.

In one embodiment, to reduce the chance of collision, the top portionsof the lists presented to the users are randomized, in a way illustratedin FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 shows a method to reduce collisions in establishing real-timecommunication connections according to one embodiment. In oneembodiment, the method of FIG. 3 is implemented in a communicationsystem illustrated in FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, the web server (101) is configured to receive (221) arequest via a web interface presented using a user browser (111). Inresponse, the web server (101) (or another server connected with the webserver (101)) is configured to select (223) a set of advisers accordingto the request, based on the data in the data store (109). The serverthen determines (225) ranks of the set of advisers, sorts (227) the setof advisers into a list based on the ranks, and randomizes (229) a topportion of the list for presentation in the web interface.

After the web server (101) receives (231) a selection by a user of anadviser from the list presented in the web interface, the connectionserver (103) connects (233) the user to the adviser that was selected inthe web interface by the user.

Since the order of the listings presented in the top portion of the listis randomized, the chance of different users selecting the same topadviser presented on their respective lists is reduced. Thus, thepossibility of collision in requests for real time communications to thesame top adviser is reduced.

In one embodiment, the web server (101) is configured to select the topportion of the list based on a predetermined count of listings (e.g., torandomize the order of the top 10 listings).

In one embodiment, the web server (101) is configured to score thelistings in determining (225) the ranks of the set of advisers. Forexample, the ranking score of a listing of an adviser can be a functionof the compensation price (213) of the adviser, the customer rating(207) of the adviser, the current availability status (209) of theadviser for real time communications, the degree of matching between thesearch terms provided by the user and the descriptions (211) of thelisting, etc. The web server (101) is configured to randomize the orderof the listings that have the score above a predetermined threshold.

In one embodiment, the web server (101) is configured to randomize thepredetermined count of listings (e.g., randomize the order of the top 10listings), when the number of listings having ranking scores above thethreshold are more than the predetermined count.

In one embodiment, the web server (101) is configured to analyze theclustering of the listings based on the relative closeness of the scoresof the listings with each other and randomize listings in the clusterhaving the highest ranking scores.

In one embodiment, the data store (109) is configured to store not onlyavailability data indicating the current availability status of theadvisers to accept real time communication connections, but alsoinventory data indicating whether the advisers are in the inventory forpresentation to potential customers, in a way illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 shows another method to reduce collisions in establishingreal-time communication connections according to one embodiment. In oneembodiment, the method of FIG. 4 is implemented in a communicationsystem illustrated in FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, the data store (109) stores (241) availability dataindicating availability of advisers for real time communications withcustomers. The web server (101) is configured to adjust (243) theavailability data based on availability inputs from the advisers.

For example, when an adviser is ready for real time communications withcustomers, the adviser may sign into the system via the web server (101)to indicate that the adviser is available to accept a real timecommunication connection with the connection server (13) for deliveringservices over the real time communication connection to a user phone(e.g., 113, . . . , or 123).

For example, when the adviser wants to block requests for real timecommunication connection from the connection server (103), the advisermay sign into the system via the web server (101) to provide anindication that the adviser is unavailable (or sign off from thesystem).

In one embodiment, the connection server (103) is configured to adjust(245) the availability data based on real time communication connectionsconnected to the advisers.

For example, when a connection is established between the connectionserver (103) and the adviser phone (115), the connection server (103) isconfigured in one embodiment to update the availability data to indicatethat the adviser corresponding to the adviser phone (115) is notavailable.

For example, in response to disconnecting a telephonic connectionbetween the connection server (103) and the adviser phone (115), theconnection server (103) is configured in one embodiment to update theavailability data to indicate that the adviser corresponding to theadviser phone (115) is available.

In addition to the availability data indicating the current availabilityof the advisers to accept real time communications connections, the datastore (109) is configured to further store (247) inventory dataidentifying advisers offerable to customers to provide services.

In one embodiment, the web server (101) is configured to adjust (249)the inventory data based on presentation of advisers to customers.

For example, when the listing of an adviser was presented to a firstuser within a first predetermined period of time (or when it isdetermined that the first user is very likely to be connected to theadviser), the web server (101) may mark the listing of the adviser toindicate that the adviser is not in the inventory of advisers that canbe presented to other users.

For example, when the listing of the adviser was presented to the firstuser more than a second predetermined period of time ago (or when it isdetermined that the first user is less likely to be connected to theadviser), the listing of the adviser can be marked to indicate that theadviser is back in the inventory of advisers that can be presented toother users.

For example, when the listing of the adviser has been selected for aconnection by the user who has a high rate of successful connections inthe past, the listing of the adviser can be marked to indicate that theadviser is not in the inventory of advisers that can be presented toother users.

In FIG. 4, after the web server (101) receive (251) a request forlistings of advisers, the web server (101) (or another server connectedto the web server (101)) identifies (253) a set of advisers based on theinventory data in accordance with the request and presents (255)listings of the set of advisers based on the availability data.

For example, if the inventory data indicates that an adviser is not inthe inventory for presentation to customers, the listing of the adviseris not selected for presentation to a new customer, even when theadviser is currently available. By removing an adviser out of theinventory for a short period of time after the adviser is beingpresented in a top portion of a list of advisers, the change ofdifferent users selecting the same adviser is reduced.

In one embodiment, the data store (109) is configured to store dataindicating the probability of an adviser being connected for deliveringservices to a user of the system within a predetermined period of time.The web server (101) is configured to rank the advisers based on theprobabilities of advisers being connected within the predeterminedperiod of time. An adviser having a high probability of being connectedwith the predetermined period of time is ranked to have a lower rankingscore than a similar adviser having a low probability of being connectedwith the predetermined period of time. Thus, the system dynamicallyranks the advisers to reduce probabilities of collisions in real timecommunication requests, in a way illustrated in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 shows a further method to reduce collisions in establishingreal-time communication connections according to one embodiment. In oneembodiment, the method of FIG. 5 is implemented in a communicationsystem illustrated in FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, the data sore (109) is configured to store (261) datarecording times of presentation advisers and store (263) data recordinguser activities related to advisers presented to the users.

For example, after the presentation of a list of advisers to a user, theadvisers on the lists having different estimated probabilities of beingselected based on the positions of the advisers on the list.

For example, after an adviser is selected from the list, the probabilityof the adviser being connected to the user may be based on the currentmembership status of the user.

For example, after the user is identified, the probability of the userwill be connected to the selected adviser can be estimated based on theprior connection patterns of the user.

In FIG. 5, the web server (101) (or another server connected to the webserver (101)) is configured to determine (265) probabilities of advisersbeing connected to for real time communications within a period of timebased on the data recording the presentation times of the advisers (261)and the user activities related to the presented advisers. For example,when more than one user has selected an adviser for a connection, theprobability of the adviser being connected to for real timecommunications increases.

In response to receiving (267) a request from a user for listings ofadvisers, the web server (101) (or another server connected to the webserver (101)) is configured to select (269) a set of advisers inaccordance with the request, rank (271) the advisers based at least inpart on the probabilities, and sort (273) the set of advisers into alist based on the real time ranks of the advisers. The web server (101)then presents (275) the list of advisers for selecting by the user inthe user browser (111).

In one embodiment, the probabilities are adjusted in real time inaccordance with the user activities related to the presented advisers,the presentations of the advisers, and the lapsed time since thepresentation. In one embodiment, the probabilities are used to weightagainst the availability of the corresponding advisers in ranking theadvisers.

In some embodiments, the methods of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are combined.

For example, in one embodiment, the inventor data is used as in FIG. 4for the selection of the advisers; and the presentation order of the topportion of the list of selected and ranked advisers is randomized as inFIG. 3 to reduce collision.

For example, in one embodiment, the probability of advisers beingconnected to within a period of time is used as in FIG. 5 for theranking of the advisers; and the presentation order of the top portionof the list of selected and ranked advisers is randomized as in FIG. 3to reduce collision.

For example, in one embodiment, the inventor data is used as in FIG. 4for the selection of the advisers; the probability of advisers beingconnected to within a period of time is used as in FIG. 5 for theranking of the advisers; and the presentation order of the top portionof the list of selected and ranked advisers is randomized as in FIG. 3to reduce collision.

In one embodiment, the system is configured to predict the collision ofthe progress of multiple users on track to be connected to the sameadviser and organize a bidding session for the users to resolve theconflict. Thus, the users are informed of the possibility of losing thecurrently opportunity for being connected to the adviser; and when theuser loses the opportunity to be connected the selected adviser aftercompleting the intervening actions between the selection of the adviserand being connected to the adviser by the connection server (103), theuser can be offered to be connected to an alternative adviser, orschedule an appointment.

FIG. 6 shows a method to select a user for establishing a real timecommunication connection to an adviser according to one embodiment. Inone embodiment, the method of FIG. 6 is implemented in a communicationsystem illustrated in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 6, the data store (109) is configured to store data tracking(281) users in progress to be connected to an adviser. The web server(101) (or another server connected to the web server (101)) isconfigured to determine (283) the probabilities of the users beingconnected to the adviser during a same time period based on the storeddata tracking (281) the progresses of the users.

In one embodiment, a set of users having the probabilities above athreshold is selected (285). If it is determined (287) that more thanone user is selected in the set of users, the web server (101) isconfigured to organize (289) a bidding session for the set of users.

For example, using the user browsers (111, . . . , 121), the web server(101) is configured to inform the respective users that there aremultiple users on the system in progress to be connected to the sameadviser. The users may optionally offer bids for improved priority forbeing connected the same adviser. In some embodiments, the userinterface presented in the user browser (111, . . . , 121) also allows auser to select an alternative adviser, if the user loses the bid.

In one embodiment, the bidding session adds a predetermined processingtime between the selection of an adviser by a user and the connection ofthe user to the selected adviser. Thus, multiple users may concurrentlyenter the stage of being ready to be connected to the selected adviser.In one embodiment, the bidding session ends after the connection server(103) establish the connection to the adviser phone (115); and a user isselected (291) from the set of users based on a result of the biddingsession and connected (293) to the adviser.

In some embodiments, the priorities of the users in the bidding sessionare based at least in part on the progress speeds of the users towardsmeeting all requirements (e.g., registration, identifying fundingsource) to establish connection between the user phones (113, . . . ,123) with the connection server (103)). A bid offered by a user mayincrease the priority of the user.

In one embodiment, the priorities of the users in the bidding sessionare replaced with a racing presentation in which the progress of a userrelative to others is presented to indicate the competition among theusers, without providing a facility to allow a user to improve his/herpriority via increasing a priority bid. Thus, the users may see the realtime progress of the respective users competing for the same adviser.

Satisfaction Guarantee

In one embodiment, the communication system as illustrated in FIG. 1 isconfigured to charge users on behalf of advisers for the servicesprovided by the respective advisers over the communication connectionsestablished, via the web server (101) and the connection server (103),between the user phones (113, . . . , 123) and the adviser phones (115,. . . , 125).

For example, an adviser may specify a price (213) for the servicesdelivered via the communication system; and a user, connected to theadviser via the communication system to receive the services, is chargedby the communication system on behalf of the adviser in accordance withthe price (213) specified by the adviser.

In one example, the price (213) is a predetermined amount of apredetermined currency for each unit of time (e.g., per minute) of thecommunication connection established by the connection server (103). Inanother example, the price (213) is a predetermined amount of funds forservices delivered in a communication session that has a predeterminedtime limit (e.g., 30 minutes, an hour); the user may voluntarilyterminate the communication session before the predetermined time limit;and the adviser may optionally extend the communication session for aperiod of time for free in some instances.

In one embodiment, the communication system is configured to monitoruser interactions with the system to detect an indication of userdissatisfaction with the services provided by the adviser. Theindication may be detected in view of a shortened communication session,a low rating provided by the user for the services received in thecommunication session, a negative feedback provided by the user for theservices received in the communication session, etc. In response todetecting the indication of the user dissatisfaction, the systemdetermines the likelihood of authenticity of the dissatisfaction, basedon the history of the user using the system and/or the patterns ofdifferent users interacting with the adviser. If the dissatisfaction isdetermined to be authentic (e.g., not for the purpose to game the systemto avoid payments), the system automatically provides a refund to theuser, without the user explicitly requesting the refund and/or withoutrequesting the user to explicitly confirm the automatically detecteddissatisfaction. Thus, the user experience with the system can beimproved, when the services provided by the adviser are not satisfactoryto the user; and the efficiency of the processing of potential disputesover service quality is also improved.

FIG. 7 shows a system to monitor the quality of services provided inreal time communication connections according to one embodiment.

In FIG. 7, a data store (109) is configured to store the listings (131)of advisers for presentation to the user browsers (111, . . . , 121) viathe web server (101).

For example, a user browser (111) may visit the web server (101) tosearch for a list of advisers, or browse the listings of advisers in auser selected service category. In response, the web server (101)identifies the requested listings and presents the listings to the userbrowser (111) via the internet (105).

For example, the user browsers (111, . . . , 121) may be used to searchfor advisers offering services based on keywords, categories, topics,customer ratings, description, certification, expertise, prices, etc.

In view of the presentation of the advisers in the user browsers (111, .. . , 121), the users of the respective user browsers (111, . . . , 121)may selectively identify advisers and request the connection server(103) to establish connections between the users and the selectedadvisers. The connection server (103) is configured to call the userphones (113, . . . , 123) and the adviser phones (115, . . . , 125)separately and then bridge the respective calls to establish, via thetelecommunication network (107), telephonic connections between the userphones (113, . . . , 123) and the adviser phones (115, . . . , 125). Theadvisers provide services over the telephonic connections between theuser phones (113, . . . , 123) and the adviser phones (115, . . . ,125); and the connection server (103) is configured to charge the userson behalf of the advisers for the services rendered over the telephonicconnections.

In FIG. 7, the data store (109) is configured to store the communicationrecords (401) identifying the telephonic connections between the userphones (113, . . . , 123) and the adviser phones (115, . . . , 125) bythe connection server (103).

After the communication sessions with the advisers, the users may usethe user phones (113, . . . , 123) and/or the user browsers (111, . . ., 121) to provide the user ratings (405) of the services provided by theadvisers and/or user feedback about the services. In FIG. 7, the datastore (109) is configured to store the user ratings (405) and therecords (403) of the user feedback.

For example, a user may use a user browser (111) to select an adviserbased on a listing presented in the user browser (111), and identify theuser phone (113) by providing the phone number of the user phone (113).An adviser phone (115) of the selected adviser is identified, forexample, based on a phone number pre-associated with the listing of theadviser in the data store (109). After identifying a source of payment,such as a stored value account of the user, a credit card account, adebit card account, a checking account, a prepaid account, etc., theconnection server (103) connects the user phone (113) to the adviserphone (115) via the telecommunication network (107), allowing theadviser to deliver services, such as advices, entertainments,information, etc., to the user over the telephonic connection.

In one embodiment, the connection server (103) is configured to monitorthe telephonic connection to determine a time period in which theservices of the adviser is provided to the user and charge the source ofpayment on behalf the adviser.

In one embodiment, the web server (101) and/or the connection server(103) are further configured to monitor the user interaction with thesystem to detect an indication of dissatisfaction of the user with theservices provided by the user. In response to the indication, the webserver (101) (or a further server connected to the data store (109)) isconfigured to determine, without further communicating with the user,whether the dissatisfaction is genuine. Instead of communicating withthe user to investigate the dissatisfaction, which may incur furthercost and/or inconvenience to the user and/or require human resourcesfrom the system, the system is configured to validate thedissatisfaction based on an automated analysis of the communicationrecords (401), the user feedback records (403), the user ratings (405),and/or the user patterns (407) of the usage of the system.

For example, the system may determine whether the dissatisfaction isconsistent with the user ratings (405) provided by the user and/or otherusers for the services from the adviser and/or similar advisers (e.g.,advisers providing services in the same category/topic, having the sameaverage user ratings, offering services in a same time period).

For example, the system may determine whether the dissatisfaction isconsistent with the records (403) of user feedback provided by the userand/or other users for the services from the adviser and/or similaradvisers.

For example, the system may determine whether the dissatisfaction isconsistent with the communication records (401) indicating the timedurations of the communication connections provided between the adviserand the user and/or other users for the services from the adviser and/orsimilar advisers.

For example, the user patterns (407) may include the payment history ofthe user and/or past refund requests to determine the likelihood thatthe indication of the dissatisfaction is motivated by an attempt to gamethe system and to avoid the payment for the quality services provided bythe adviser.

In one embodiment, the connection server (103) may further monitor thecommunications provided over the telephonic connections between the userphones (113, . . . , 123) and the adviser phones (115, . . . , 125) toevaluate the quality of services.

For example, the connection server (103) may measure the accumulatedduration of time periods in which there is a lack of communication overthe telephonic connection provided by the connection server.

For example, the connection server (103) may measure the voice volumethe adviser during the time period to detect poor communication quality.

For example, the connection server (103) may analyze the voice change inthe communication between the adviser and the user to detect emotionalchanges to evaluate the quality of the services of the adviser and/or todetect an indication of dissatisfaction. For example, the connectionserver (103) may perform voice recognition of the communication betweenthe adviser and the user to detect verbal expressions of dissatisfactionby the user.

In one embodiment, the system evaluates a probability of theauthenticity of the dissatisfaction of the user, based on the storeddata, such as the communication records (401), the user feedback records(403), the user ratings (405), the user patterns (405), etc. When theprobability of the authenticity is above a threshold, the web server(101) (or another server connected to the data store (109)) isconfigured to provide a refund to the user without the user having tomake a refund request, and/or without the user having to provide anexplicit input to confirm the dissatisfaction detected by the system.

In some embodiments, the adviser phones (115, . . . , 125) and the userphones (113, . . . , 123) may be connected to traditional land-line oftelephone networks, wireless telecommunication networks for mobilephones (e.g., cellular phones, smart phones), or data communicationnetworks connected to computing devices running soft phones (e.g., viaVoice over Internet Protocol or other communication protocols).

In some embodiments, the user browsers (111, . . . , 121) may run in thesame computing devices on which the respective user phones (113, . . . ,123) of the users are implemented, or in computing devices separate fromthe user phones (113, . . . , 123).

FIG. 7 illustrates a system to establish telephonic connections for realtime communications. Alternatively or in combination, the user phones(113, . . . , 123) and the adviser phones (115, . . . , 125) can bereplaced with computing devices, such as computers, smart phones, tabletcomputers, digital media players, personal digital assistants, etc., forother forms of real time communications, such as instant messaging, textchat, video chat, etc.

FIG. 8 shows a method to provide a refund for unsatisfied servicesaccording to one embodiment. For example, the method of FIG. 8 can beimplemented in the system illustrated in FIG. 7.

In one embodiment, a computing apparatus in a communication system isconfigured to: receive (421) a request via a web interface implementedin a user browser (111); select (423) a set of advisers according to therequest; determine (425) ranks of the set of advisers; sort (427) theset of advisers into a list based on the ranks; present (429) listings(131) of the set advisers in the web interface according to the ranks;receive (431) a selection by a user of an adviser from the list ofadvisers presented in the web interface; establish (433) a connectionbetween the user and the adviser selected in the web interface;determine (435) a dissatisfaction of the user with services provided bythe adviser over the connection; and provide (437) a refund for theservices without a request from the user.

FIG. 9 shows a method to detect dissatisfaction to provide an automaticrefund according to one embodiment. For example, the method of FIG. 8can be implemented in the system illustrated in FIG. 9.

In one embodiment, a computing apparatus in a communication system isconfigured to: establish (441) a connection between a user and anadviser selected in a web interface; determine (443) a duration of theconnection over which the adviser provides services to the user; charge(445) the user for the services based on a rate (e.g., price 213) andthe duration; receive (447) a user feedback for the services provided bythe adviser; and receive (449) a user rating for the services providedby the adviser.

If it is determined that the rating is lower than a threshold (451), orthe feedback is negative (453), or the duration of the communication isshortened (455), the computing apparatus is configured to: determine(457) the user is unsatisfied by the service; validate (459) thedissatisfaction without a confirmation from the user; and provide (461)a refund for the services without a refund request from the user;transmit (463) a refund notification to the user.

In one embodiment, a computing apparatus configured to perform themethod of FIG. 8 and/or FIG. 9 includes one or more componentsillustrated in FIG. 7. For example, the computing apparatus may includeone or more of: the data store (109), the web server (101), and theconnection server (103), each of which can be implemented using one ormore data processing systems, such as a data processing systemillustrated in FIG. 10 with more or less components.

In one embodiment, the computing apparatus includes the data store (109)to store data identifying: the listings (131) of a plurality ofadvisers, availability (209) of the advisers for real timecommunications over the communication system, and other information ofthe advisers, such as topics of services offered by the advisers, theaverage ratings (207) from the prior customers of the advisers, etc.

In one embodiment, the computing apparatus includes a web server (101)configured to provide data to a user browser (111) to present a userinterface to receive user input requesting a list of advisers.

Based at least in part on the availability of the advisers, theinformation of the advisers, and the user input, the computing apparatusidentifies and ranks the list of advisers. The web server (101) thenprovides the list to the user browser (111) for presentation in the userinterface.

After the web server (101) receives a user selection of an adviser fromthe list, the web server (101) communicates the selection to theconnection server (103), which provides a real time communicationconnection between a user of the user interface and the adviser selectedfrom the list.

In one embodiment, the computing apparatus is configured to charge theuser for the services provided over the real time communicationconnection.

To ensure the user satisfaction with the services charged for by thecomputing apparatus, the web server (101) and/or the connection server(103) monitors services provided by the adviser over the real timecommunication connection to detect an indicator of dissatisfaction ofthe user with the services provided over the real time communicationconnection.

If an indicator of the dissatisfaction is detected, the computingapparatus is configured to determine authenticity of the dissatisfactionof the user without an input from the user and provide, by the computingapparatus and without a user request, a refund to the user.

For example, the web server (101) or the connection server (103) mayreceive a user rating of the services provided over the real timecommunication connection; and the indicator of dissatisfaction can bedetected, e.g., based on the user rating being below a threshold.

For example, the web server (101) or the connection server (103) mayreceive a user feedback of the services provided over the real timecommunication connection; and the indicator of dissatisfaction can bedetected, e.g., based on the user feedback being negative. In oneembodiment, patterns of words in user feedback that correspond tonegative comments and/or user dissatisfaction are identified via astatistical analysis; and the user feedback is matched with the patternsto determine whether the feedback is negative.

For example, the connection server (103) measures the actual duration ofthe real time communication connection provided between the user and theadviser. The indicator of dissatisfaction can be detected, e.g., basedon the actual duration of the real time communication connection beingshort than a threshold or an expected duration (e.g., the predeterminedduration limit for a communication session purchased by the user).

In one embodiment, the computing apparatus is configured to determine anexpected duration of the real time communication connection (e.g., basedon a profile of the user and similar users communicating with theadviser or similar advisers). When a ratio between the actual durationand the expected duration is less than a threshold, the indicator ofdissatisfaction is detected.

In one embodiment, after the indicator of dissatisfaction is detected,the computing apparatus is configured to determine the authenticity ofthe dissatisfaction.

For example, the authenticity of the dissatisfaction can be validatedbased at least in part on a pattern of the user in usage of thecommunication system.

For example, the pattern can be based at least in part on a set of userfeedbacks to services provided by different advisers connected to theuser via the communication system. When the user feedback matches with apattern of user feedbacks associated with dissatisfactions, theauthenticity of the dissatisfaction of the user can be at leastvalidated in part.

For example, the pattern can be based at least in part on user ratingsto services provided by different advisers connected to the user via thecommunication system. When the user rating is consistent with userratings associated with dissatisfactions, the authenticity of thedissatisfaction of the user can be at least validated in part.

For example, the pattern can be based at least in part on connectiondurations for services provided by different advisers connected to theuser via the communication system. When the time duration of theconnection between the user and the adviser is consistent with theconnection durations associated with dissatisfactions, the authenticityof the dissatisfaction of the user can be at least validated in part.

In one embodiment, the authenticity of the dissatisfaction of the useris evaluated based on multiple aspects, such as user ratings,communication durations, user feedbacks, accumulated silent timeperiods, voice level/pattern in the communications, emotion changes inthe communications, etc. The results of the evaluations are combined todetermine whether the likelihood of the authenticity of thedissatisfaction of the user is above a threshold.

In one embodiment, the computing apparatus is configured to computestatistics of services provided by the adviser to different users viathe communication system. The dissatisfaction of the user is detectedbased at least in part on the statistics.

For example, the statistics can be based at least in part on userratings from the different users. A user rating of the services providedto the user over the real time communication connection can be comparedwith the statistics to detect the dissatisfaction.

For example, when a ratio between the user rating for the servicesprovided to the user over the real time communication connection and theaverage rating of the adviser and/or advisers providing similar servicesis below a threshold, an indication of the dissatisfaction of the useris detected.

For example, the statistics can be based at least in part on userfeedbacks from the different users; and a user feedback of the servicesprovided to the user over the real time communication connection iscompared with the statistics to detect the dissatisfaction.

For example, a statistics model can be established to evaluate the levelof negativity of user feedbacks. When the level of the negativity of theuser feedback of the services provided to the user over the real timecommunication connection is above a threshold, an indication of thedissatisfaction of the user is detected.

For example, the statistics can be based at least in part on user can bebased at least in part on durations of communication connections of theadviser with the different users; and a time duration of the real timecommunication connection provided between the user and the adviser iscompared with the statistics to detect the dissatisfaction.

For example, the average time duration of communication connections ofdifferent users with dissatisfactions can be compare to the timeduration of the real time communication connection provided between theuser and the adviser. When the time duration of the user is less thanthe average time duration, an indication of the dissatisfaction of theuser is detected.

In one embodiment, the system is configured to identify thecommunication connections for which the respective users have explicitlyrequested refunds for poor services. A statistical model is establishedand trained to tell the communications connections with refund requestsapart for the other communications connections. The statistical model isestablished and/or trained based on a set of parameters, such as userratings, user feedbacks, time durations, quality monitory parametersmeasured for the communications during the respective connections, suchas the length of accumulated silent periods, patterns of silent periods,voice distribution of the communications, emotion indicationdistribution of the communications, etc. The statistical model is thenapplied to the real time communication connection provided between theuser and the adviser having the corresponding parameters to determinewhether the connection is to be classified as being associated with arefund or not.

In one embodiment, the authenticity of the dissatisfaction of the useris validated is based at least in part on a payment history of the userfor services provided over communication connections established via thecommunication system. In one embodiment, a good payment history isconfigured to weight for validation the authenticity of thedissatisfaction of the user; and a poor or lack of payment history isconfigured to weight against validation the authenticity of thedissatisfaction of the user.

In one embodiment, the computing apparatus is configured to valid theauthenticity of the dissatisfaction of the user is without acommunication with the user to confirm the dissatisfaction; and therefund is provided to the user without a refund request from the user.The automated process improves the efficiency of the system in providingguarantee on satisfaction of the services provided by the advisers.

In one embodiment, in response to the automated refund, the computingapparatus transmits a preemptive message to the user to report therefund, without requiring any input from the user.

USER ASSESSMENT FOR ENROLLMENT

In one embodiment, an interactive user assessment is performed when auser uses a browser (e.g., 111, . . . , 121) to visit the web server(101) of the system. The assessment is used to assist enrollment of theuser for the services of the system that is configured to provide realtime communications connections between user phones (113, . . . , 123)and adviser phones (e.g., 115, . . . , 125).

The interactive user assessment can be conducted as part of theenrollment process or prior to the user decides to enroll for theservices of the system. The user assessment allows the system toidentify the needs of the user, the state and/or skills of the userrelated to the needs of the user, and the recommended advisers to meetthe needs of the user based on the skill and/or need level of the user.

For example, the advisers may provide coaching services over real timecommunications connections. The interactive user assessment makes thecoaching experience in the system interactive from start and help thesystem recommend coach/advisers based on the assessment/test score andcoach/advisers availability.

The initial interaction can potentially increase new user registrationif the user is not already a member and eventually uses services of thesystem.

In one embodiment, after the interactive user assessment, arecommendation engine of the system uses the assessment results andadvisers' availability to provide the initial recommendation of advisersthat may best match the needs and skill level of the user. The initialrecommendation generated based on the interactive user assessmentencourages the user to enroll for the services of the system and thusencourages the user to use the system in obtain coaching services fromthe recommended advisers.

In one embodiment, the interactive user assessment/test is based onquestions designed to reveal the user needs and skill or need levelsbased on correlation between the answers to the questions and skill/needlevels.

Using the user assessment/test scores, the performance of an adviserrecommendation engine can be improved in offering coaching help.

FIG. 11 shows a system to enroll users for real time communicationconnections with advisers according to one embodiment.

In FIG. 11, after a user uses the browser (111, . . . , or 121) to visitthe web server (101) of the system, the user assessment engine (501)launches an expert curated pre-build assessment test, retrieving thequestions from the questionnaire (505) based on information provided bythe user, such as the initial selection of a category of services andsubsequent answers to the expert curated questions.

The user assessment engine (501) presents the question via the webserver (101) to the user browser (111, . . ., or 121), receives the useranswers (507) to the corresponding user browser (111, . . . , or 121),and saves the user answers (507) and/or the test scores in the datastore (109).

In one embodiment, the user answers (507) of existing users arestatistically correlated with the communication records (401) of thecorresponding users to identify the correlation of patterns in the useranswers (507) and the patterns in the communication records (401). Forexample, correlation of clusters of answers (507) and clusters ofadvisers in the communication records (401) can be used to predict thatusers having answers (507) in the corresponding answer clusters arelikely to communicate to advisers in the corresponding adviser clusters.Further, the user answers (507) can be correlated to user ratings (405)and/or the user feedback records (403) to identify the advisers who arelikely to provide satisfactory services to the user.

In one embodiment, the recommendation engine (503) is configured to usethe user answers (507) and the communication records (401), the userfeedback records (403), the user ratings (405) and/or the user patterns(407) to provide personalized ranks of the listings (131) for the user,based on the assessment result of the user.

In one embodiment, the recommendation engine (503) is further configuredto use machine learning to improve the recommendations in an automaticway.

In one embodiment, the recommendation engine (503) uses test scores tolook into pre-calculated rankings and then look for coach availability.For example, the rankings of the listings may be categorized based ontest scores. Thus, from the test score of a particular user, a set ofpersonalized rankings of the listings can be retrieves. The listingsranked for the user is filtered based on the current availability of theadvisers to select and present the top ranked available advisers to theuser browser (111, . . . , or 121) via the web server (101). Thus, theuser may select an adviser from the personalized recommendation ofadvisers to request coaching services. If the user requests a connectionto a selected adviser, the user is prompted to enroll in the systemprior to the establishment of the connection to the selected adviser.

In one embodiment, the recommendation engine (503) recommends theadvisers based on not only the test results of the user assessment andthe availability of the advisers, but also other attributes of thelistings, such as prices, ratings, etc.

In one embodiment, the recommendation engine (503) is configured todetermine the personalized ranks of the listings based on thestatistical correlation among the user answers (507) and the listingattributes, such as prices, user ratings (405), user feedback records(403), communication records (401), etc.

For example, when a new user visits the website hosted on the web server(101) to look for advisers who provide coaching services on a particulartopic. After the user selects the topic of coaching or the category ofadvisers, the user is directed to a webpage configured to assess theuser via a questionnaire presented by the user assessment engine (501)via the web server (101). In one embodiment, a computer generatedquestionnaire or assessment test is performed via a user interfacepresented on the webpage. The user interface collects the user responsesand stored the user answers in the data store (109). After thecompletion of the assessment (or during the assessment process), therecommendation engine (503) identifies the personalized ranks of thelistings based on the users answers (507) that have been collected andpresents the list of recommended advisers. The recommended list ofadvisers is configured to change dynamically as the user provides moreuser answers (507) to the questions of the user assessment test. Whenthe user selects an adviser from the recommended list of adviserlistings, the web server (101) starts an enrollment process to registerthe user and then a connection process to provide a real timecommunication connection between the user and the user selected adviser.

In one embodiment, the user is prompted to provide a communicationreference such as an email address prior to the presentation of thequestionnaire or assessment test. Thus, even if the user does notregister or enroll in the service of the system after the test, orrequest connections to advisers, the communication reference can be usedto provide continuous offer based marketing.

In some embodiments, a user already enrolled for the services of thesystem may also choose to perform the user assessment to allow thesystem to improve adviser recommendations. For example, the user answers(507) of the existing users can be used to train the recommendationengine, via machine learning, for improved ranking of listings (131).

FIG. 12 shows a method to enroll users for real time communicationconnections with advisers according to one embodiment. For example, themethod of FIG. 12 can be implemented in a system illustrated in FIG. 11and may optionally include any of the methods of FIGS. 3-6 and 8-9.

In FIG. 12, a computing apparatus is configured to: store (511)communication references (509) of first telephonic devices (115, . . . ,125) in association with information (e.g., listings (131)) of the firstusers (e.g., advisers) of the first telephonic devices (115, . . . ,125); provide (513), using the user assessment engine (501), a test(e.g., 505) having a plurality of questions to second users of secondtelephonic devices (113, . . . ) and receive and stores theuser-provided answers (507) to the questions; present (515) theinformation (e.g., 131) of the first users to the second users (e.g.,potential customers of the advisers) to receive selections from thefirst users; establish (517), based on the selections of the seconds andby a connection server (103), real time communication connections (e.g.,telephonic connections) between telephonic devices (113, . . . ) of thesecond users and telephonic devices (115, . . . , 125) of the selectedones of the first users; determine (519) a correlation pattern (407)between the answers (507) of the second users and records (401) of thereal time communication connections; before (521) a user enrolls for theservices of the connection server, provide the test (e.g., 505) by theuser assessment engine (501) via a web server (101) to the browser (121)the user to receive answers (507) of the user; determine (523), usingthe recommendation engine (503), personalized ranks of the first usersbased on the answers of the user and the correlation pattern (407);select (525), by the recommendation engine (503), a subset of the firstusers based on the personalized ranks and present information of thesubset via the web server (101) to the user of the web browser (e.g.,121) and a telephonic device (e.g., 123); receive (527) a user selectionof a selected user from the subset of the first users presented via theweb server; enroll (529) the user of the web browser (e.g., 121) and atelephonic device (e.g., 123) for the service of the connection server(103); and after looking the communication reference of the selecteduser from the data store (109) based on the user selection, establish(531), using the communication reference, a real time communicationconnection between the enrolled user and the selected user.

The computing apparatus includes a data store (109) storing:communication references (509) of a first set of telephonic devices(115, . . . , 125) registered in the data store (109). The data store(109) further stores listing information (131) about the first users ofthe first set of telephonic devices (115, . . . , 125).

The computing apparatus further includes a connection server (103)coupled with the data store (109) and a web server (101) coupled withthe connection server (103), where the connection server (103) isconfigured to: present the listing information (131) of first users(e.g., registered advisers) of the first set of telephonic devices (115,. . . , 125) to second users (e.g., customers of the advisers) of asecond set of telephonic devices (e.g., 113, . . . , 123); receiverequests from the second users identifying selected ones of the firstusers; and in response to the requests, establish telephone connectionsbetween respective telephonic devices of the second users and respectivetelephonic devices of the selected ones of the first users usingcommunication references (131) retrieved from the data store (109)according to the requests.

For example, after a user is enrolled for the service of the connectionserver (103), the user of the user browser (111) may select an adviserbased on the listings (131) presented via the web server (101), providea communication to the web browser (111) of the user in a web page orapplication downloaded from the web server (101) and thus cause the webserver (101) to provide instructions to the connection server (103) toseparately call the phone (113) of the user and call the adviser phone(115) of the corresponding adviser selected by the user. The connectionserver (103) then bridges the two calls to establish a connectionbetween the user phone (113) and the adviser phone (115).

For example, after a user is enrolled for the service of the connectionserver (103), the user may use the user phone (113) to call theconnection server (103), which further connects the call to the adviserphone (115) based on a selection made by the user. The selection can bemade via the telephonic connection between the connection server (103)and the user phone (113), or via the web server (101) which provides acommunication reference that is temporally associated with the adviserphone (115) for the user phone (113) after the user selects the listing(131) of the adviser. When the communication reference is used to reachthe connection server (103) from the user phone (113), the connectionserver (103) looks up the communication reference of the adviser anduses the communication reference to further connect the call to theadviser phone (115).

Before a particular user of a web browser (e.g., 121) is enrolled for aservice of the connection server, the web server (101) is configured to:present, to the web browser (121), a user interface of an interactivetest (505) that includes a plurality of questions; and receive, in theweb server via the web browser, answers (507) to the questions from theuser of the web browser (121).

The answers (507) to the questions from the particular user who has notyet enrolled in the service of the connection server (103) allow thecomputing apparatus to determine personalized ranks of the listinginformation of first users (e.g., advisers who have the registeredadviser phones (115, . . . , 125)).

For example, the questions of the questionnaire (505) or test can bedesigned by experts to reveal needs, skills, and/or states of a personwho is providing the answers to the questions. The user ratings (405),user feedback records (403), and/or communications records (401) can becorrelated with the user answers (507) of previous users of the system.Thus, users of different needs, skills and/or states may have differentpropensity to connections to different advisers and providing differentuser ratings (405) regarding the quality of the services provided by theadvisers over the communication connections established via theconnection server (103).

For example, before the particular user uses the web browser (121) toaccess the web server (101) and/or the test/questionnaire (505), thesystem provides the questionnaire (505) to a set of users to collect theanswers (507) from the set of users before and/or after the enrollmentof the set of users for the service of the connection server (103). Thecomputing apparatus presents the listing information (131) of advisersto the set of users, receives selections of advisers based on thepresented listing information (131) of the advisers, generates thecommunication records (401) for the real time communication connectionsestablished between the set of users and advisers selected by the set ofusers, receives user feedback and ratings of the services of theselected advertisers to generate the records (e.g., 403, 405); andidentify, by the computing apparatus, correlation patterns (407) in theanswers (507) and the communication records (401) (e.g., theconnections, user ratings (405), user feedback).

For example, the correlation patterns (407) can be identified viastatistically correlating the answers of the set of users and the realtime communication connections between the set of users and the advisersselected by the set of users. The statistically correlation can beperformed between clusters of the set of users classified via theanswers and the clusters of advisers classified via the user ratings,the user feedback records, and other adviser attributes from thelistings (131) of the advisers. The advisers may provide services viareal time communications established via the connection server (103),such as coaching services.

Based on the personalized ranks determined from the user answers of theparticular user who has not yet enrolled in the service of theconnection server, the computing apparatus is configured to: select asubset of the first users/advisers; provide, via the web server (101) tothe web browser (121), the listing information (131) about the subset ofthe first users/advisers; receive, via the web server (101), a userselection of a particular one from the first users/advisers from thesubset presented in the web browser (121); and in response to the userselection, prompt, by the web server (101), the user to enroll in theservice of the connection server (103).

After the user enrolls in the service of the connection server (103),the computing apparatus is configured to identify, from the data store(131), a communication reference (509) of the particular one of thefirst users/advisers selected by the user; and establish, using thecommunication reference (509), a real time communication connectionbetween a telephonic device (123) of the user and a telephone device(e.g., 125) of the particular one of the first users/advisers selectedby the user.

COMPUTING APPARATUS

In one embodiment, the operations discussed above are configured to beperformed on a computing apparatus, which may include one or morecomponents illustrated in FIG. 1, such as a web server (101), theconnection server (103), the data store (109), and/or one or more userdevices (e.g., devices running the user browser (111, . . . , 121), theuser phones (113, . . . , 123), adviser phones (115, . . . , 125)).

In one embodiment, a user device can be a personal computer, a mobilecomputing device, a notebook computer, a netbook, a personal mediaplayer, a personal digital assistant, a tablet computer, a mobile phone,a smart phone, a cellular phone, etc. The user device can be implementedas a data processing system as illustrated in FIG. 10, with more orfewer components.

In one embodiment, at least some of the components of the systemdisclosed herein can be implemented as a computer system, such as a dataprocessing system illustrated in FIG. 10, with more or fewer components.Some of the components may share hardware or be combined on a computersystem. In one embodiment, a network of computers can be used toimplement one or more of the components.

In one embodiment, data discussed in the present disclosure can bestored in storage devices of one or more computers accessible to thecomponents discussed herein. The storage devices can be implemented as adata processing system illustrated in FIG. 10, with more or fewercomponents.

FIG. 10 illustrates a data processing system according to oneembodiment. While FIG. 10 illustrates various parts of a computersystem, it is not intended to represent any particular architecture ormanner of interconnecting the parts. One embodiment may use othersystems that have fewer or more components than those shown in FIG. 10.

In FIG. 10, the data processing system (310) includes an inter-connect(311) (e.g., bus and system core logic), which interconnects amicroprocessor(s) (313) and memory (314). The microprocessor (313) iscoupled to cache memory (319) in the example of FIG. 10.

In one embodiment, the inter-connect (311) interconnects themicroprocessor(s) (313) and the memory (314) together and alsointerconnects them to input/output (I/O) device(s) (315) via I/Ocontroller(s) (317). I/O devices (315) may include a display deviceand/or peripheral devices, such as mice, keyboards, modems, networkinterfaces, printers, scanners, video cameras and other devices known inthe art. In one embodiment, when the data processing system is a serversystem, some of the I/O devices (315), such as printers, scanners, mice,and/or keyboards, are optional.

In one embodiment, the inter-connect (311) includes one or more busesconnected to one another through various bridges, controllers and/oradapters. In one embodiment the I/O controllers (317) include a USB(Universal Serial Bus) adapter for controlling USB peripherals, and/oran IEEE-1394 bus adapter for controlling IEEE-1394 peripherals.

In one embodiment, the memory (314) includes one or more of: ROM (ReadOnly Memory), volatile RAM (Random Access Memory), and non-volatilememory, such as hard drive, flash memory, etc.

Volatile RAM is typically implemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM) whichrequires power continually in order to refresh or maintain the data inthe memory. Non-volatile memory is typically a magnetic hard drive, amagnetic optical drive, an optical drive (e.g., a DVD RAM), or othertype of memory system which maintains data even after power is removedfrom the system. The non-volatile memory may also be a random accessmemory.

The non-volatile memory can be a local device coupled directly to therest of the components in the data processing system. A non-volatilememory that is remote from the system, such as a network storage devicecoupled to the data processing system through a network interface suchas a modem or Ethernet interface, can also be used.

In this description, some functions and operations are described asbeing performed by or caused by software code to simplify description.However, such expressions are also used to specify that the functionsresult from execution of the code/instructions by a processor, such as amicroprocessor.

Alternatively, or in combination, the functions and operations asdescribed here can be implemented using special purpose circuitry, withor without software instructions, such as using Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC) or Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).Embodiments can be implemented using hardwired circuitry withoutsoftware instructions, or in combination with software instructions.Thus, the techniques are limited neither to any specific combination ofhardware circuitry and software, nor to any particular source for theinstructions executed by the data processing system.

While one embodiment can be implemented in fully functioning computersand computer systems, various embodiments are capable of beingdistributed as a computing product in a variety of forms and are capableof being applied regardless of the particular type of machine orcomputer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.

At least some aspects disclosed can be embodied, at least in part, insoftware. That is, the techniques may be carried out in a computersystem or other data processing system in response to its processor,such as a microprocessor, executing sequences of instructions containedin a memory, such as ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatile memory, cache or aremote storage device.

Routines executed to implement the embodiments may be implemented aspart of an operating system or a specific application, component,program, object, module or sequence of instructions referred to as“computer programs.” The computer programs typically include one or moreinstructions set at various times in various memory and storage devicesin a computer, and that, when read and executed by one or moreprocessors in a computer, cause the computer to perform operationsnecessary to execute elements involving the various aspects.

A machine readable medium can be used to store software and data whichwhen executed by a data processing system causes the system to performvarious methods. The executable software and data may be stored invarious places including for example ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatilememory and/or cache. Portions of this software and/or data may be storedin any one of these storage devices. Further, the data and instructionscan be obtained from centralized servers or peer to peer networks.Different portions of the data and instructions can be obtained fromdifferent centralized servers and/or peer to peer networks at differenttimes and in different communication sessions or in a same communicationsession. The data and instructions can be obtained in entirety prior tothe execution of the applications. Alternatively, portions of the dataand instructions can be obtained dynamically, just in time, when neededfor execution. Thus, it is not required that the data and instructionsbe on a machine readable medium in entirety at a particular instance oftime.

Examples of tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media include butare not limited to recordable and non-recordable type media such asvolatile and non-volatile memory devices, read only memory (ROM), randomaccess memory (RAM), flash memory devices, floppy and other removabledisks, magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media (e.g., CompactDisk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs), etc.),among others. The computer-readable media may store the instructions.

The instructions may also be embodied in digital and analogcommunication links for electrical, optical, acoustical or other formsof propagated signals, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digitalsignals, etc. However, propagated signals, such as carrier waves,infrared signals, digital signals, etc. are not tangible machinereadable medium and are not configured to store instructions.

In general, a machine readable medium includes any mechanism thatprovides (i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a formaccessible by a machine (e.g., a computer, network device, personaldigital assistant, manufacturing tool, any device with a set of one ormore processors, etc.).

In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in combinationwith software instructions to implement the techniques. Thus, thetechniques are neither limited to any specific combination of hardwarecircuitry and software nor to any particular source for the instructionsexecuted by the data processing system.

The description and drawings are illustrative and are not to beconstrued as limiting. The present disclosure is illustrative ofinventive features to enable a person skilled in the art to make and usethe techniques. Various features, as described herein, should be used incompliance with all current and future rules, laws and regulationsrelated to privacy, security, permission, consent, authorization, andothers. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thoroughunderstanding. However, in certain instances, well known or conventionaldetails are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description.References to one or an embodiment in the present disclosure are notnecessarily references to the same embodiment; and, such references meanat least one.

The use of headings herein is merely provided for ease of reference, andshall not be interpreted in any way to limit this disclosure or thefollowing claims.

Reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,and are not necessarily all referring to separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, variousfeatures are described which may be exhibited by one embodiment and notby others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may berequirements for one embodiment but not for other embodiments. Unlessexcluded by explicit description and/or apparent incompatibility, anycombination of various features described in this description is alsoincluded here. For example, the features described above in connectionwith “in one embodiment” or “in some embodiments” can be all optionallyincluded in one implementation, except where the dependency of certainfeatures on other features, as apparent from the description, may limitthe options of excluding selected features from the implementation, andincompatibility of certain features with other features, as apparentfrom the description, may limit the options of including selectedfeatures together in the implementation.

In the foregoing specification, the disclosure has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evidentthat various modifications may be made thereto without departing fromthe broader spirit and scope as set forth in the following claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: providing a web servercoupled with a connection server configured to establish real timecommunication connections between telephonic devices, wherein: a datastore stores: communication references of a first set of telephonicdevices registered in the data store, and information about first usersof the first set of telephonic devices; the web server is configured to:present the information of the first users of the first set oftelephonic devices to second users of a second set of telephonicdevices; receive requests from the second users identifying selectedones of the first users; and the connection server is configured to, inresponse to the requests, establish telephone connections betweenrespective telephonic devices of the second users and respectivetelephonic devices of the selected ones of the first users based oncommunication references in the data store; in response to a user of aweb browser visiting the web server: presenting, by the web server tothe web browser, a user interface of an interactive test that includes aplurality of questions; receiving, in the web server via the webbrowser, answers to the questions from the user of the web browser;determining, by a computing apparatus, personalized ranks of theinformation of first users of the first set of telephonic devices basedon the user answers; selecting, by the computing apparatus, a subset ofthe first users based on the personalized ranks determined from the useranswers; presenting, by the web server to the web browser, theinformation about the subset of the first users; receiving, in the webserver, a user selection of a particular one of the first users from thesubset presented in the web browser; and in response to the userselection, prompting, by the web server, the user to engage a service ofthe connection server, including: identifying, from the data store, acommunication reference of the particular one of the first users;presenting information of the particular one of the first users; andestablishing, using the communication reference, a real timecommunication connection between a telephonic device of the user and atelephonic device of the particular one of the first users.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising, prior to presenting the test tothe user: presenting the test to a plurality of third users; receiving,from the third users, answers of the third users to the test; presentingthe information of first users to the third users; receiving, from thethird users, selections of the first users based on the information ofthe first users presented to the third users; establishing, by theconnection server, real time communication connections between the thirdusers and selected ones of the first users; and identifying, by thecomputing apparatus, correlation patterns in the answers of the thirdusers and the real time communication connections between the thirdusers and the selected ones of the first users; wherein the personalizedranks are determined based on the answers to the questions from the userof the web browser and the correlation patterns.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein the questions are designed to reveal needs of a personproviding answers to the questions.
 4. The method of claim 2, whereinthe questions are designed to reveal skills of a person providinganswers to the questions.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein thequestions are designed to reveal states of a person providing answers tothe questions.
 6. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifying of thecorrelation patterns includes statistically correlating the answers ofthe third users and the real time communication connections between thethird users and the selected ones of the first users.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the statistically correlating the answers of the thirdusers and the real time communication connections between the thirdusers and the selected ones of the first users includes correlatingclusters of answers and clusters of real time communications to thefirst users.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first users areregistered in the data store to provide services via real timecommunications established via the connection server.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the services include coaching.
 10. A non-transitorycomputer storage medium storing instructions configured to instruct acomputing apparatus to perform a method, the method comprising: storing,in a data store, communication references of a first set of telephonicdevices registered in the data store, and information about first usersof the first set of telephonic devices; wherein the data store iscoupled with a connection server configured to establish real timecommunication connections between telephonic devices, by presenting theinformation of the first users of the first set of telephonic devices tosecond users of a second set of telephonic devices; receiving requestsfrom the second users identifying selected ones of the first users; andin response to the requests, establishing telephone connections betweenrespective telephonic devices of the second users and respectivetelephonic devices of the selected ones of the first users based oncommunication references in the data store; in response to a user of aweb browser visiting the connection server: presenting, by the webserver to the web browser, a user interface of an interactive test thatincludes a plurality of questions; receiving, in the web server via theweb browser, answers to the questions from the user of the web browser;determining, by a computing apparatus, personalized ranks of theinformation of first users of the first set of telephonic devices basedon the user answers; selecting, by the computing apparatus, a subset ofthe first users based on the personalized ranks determined from the useranswers; presenting, by the web server to the web browser, theinformation about the subset of the first users; receiving, in the webserver, a user selection of a particular one of the first users from thesubset presented in the web browser; and in response to the userselection, prompting, by the web server, the user to engage a service ofthe connection server, including: after the user enrolls in the serviceof the connection server, identifying, from the data store, acommunication reference of the particular one of the first users; andpresenting information of the particular one of the first users; andestablishing, using the communication reference, a real timecommunication connection between a telephonic device of the user and atelephonic device of the particular one of the first users.
 11. Thenon-transitory computer storage medium of claim 10, wherein the methodfurther comprises, prior to presenting the test to the user: presentingthe test to a plurality of third users; receiving, from the third users,answers of the third users to the test; presenting the information offirst users to the third users; receiving, from the third users,selections of the first users based on the information of the firstusers presented to the third users; establishing, by the connectionserver, real time communication connections between the third users andselected ones of the first users; and identifying, by the computingapparatus, correlation patterns in the answers of the third users andthe real time communication connections between the third users and theselected ones of the first users; wherein the personalized ranks aredetermined based on the answers to the questions from the user of theweb browser and the correlation patterns.
 12. A computing apparatus,comprising: a data store storing: communication references of a firstset of telephonic devices registered in the data store, and informationabout first users of the first set of telephonic devices; a connectionserver coupled with the data store and configured to: present theinformation of the first users of the first set of telephonic devices tosecond users of a second set of telephonic devices; receive requestsfrom the second users identifying selected ones of the first users; andin response to the requests, establish telephone connections betweenrespective telephonic devices of the second users and respectivetelephonic devices of the selected ones of the first users based oncommunication references in the data store; a web server coupled withthe connection server and configure to, before a user of a web browseris enrolled for a service of the connection server: present, to the webbrowser, a user interface of an interactive test that includes aplurality of questions; and receive, in the web server via the webbrowser, answers to the questions from the user of the web browser;wherein the computing apparatus is further configured to: determinepersonalized ranks of the information of first users of the first set oftelephonic devices based on the user answers; select a subset of thefirst users based on the personalized ranks determined from the useranswers; provide, via the web server to the web browser, the informationabout the subset of the first users; receive, via the web server, a userselection of a particular one of the first users from the subsetpresented in the web browser; and in response to the user selection,prompt, by the web server, the user to engage a service of theconnection server, including: identify, from the data store, acommunication reference of the particular one of the first users;present, information of the particular one of the first users; andestablish, using the communication reference, a real time communicationconnection between a telephonic device of the user and a telephonicdevice of the particular one of the first users.
 13. The computingapparatus of claim 12, further configured to, prior to presenting thetest to the user: present the test to a plurality of third users;receive, from the third users, answers of the third users to the test;present the information of first users to the third users; receive, fromthe third users, selections of the first users based on the informationof the first users presented to the third users; establish, by theconnection server, real time communication connections between the thirdusers and selected ones of the first users; and identify, by thecomputing apparatus, correlation patterns in the answers of the thirdusers and the real time communication connections between the thirdusers and the selected ones of the first users; wherein the personalizedranks are determined based on the answers to the questions from the userof the web browser and the correlation patterns.
 14. The computingapparatus of claim 13, wherein the questions are designed to revealneeds of a person providing answers to the questions.
 15. The computingapparatus of claim 13, wherein the questions are designed to revealskills of a person providing answers to the questions.
 16. The computingapparatus of claim 13, wherein the questions are designed to revealstates of a person providing answers to the questions.
 17. The computingapparatus of claim 13, wherein the correlation patterns are identifiedvia statistically correlating the answers of the third users and thereal time communication connections between the third users and theselected ones of the first users.
 18. The computing apparatus of claim17, wherein the statistically correlating the answers of the third usersand the real time communication connections between the third users andthe selected ones of the first users includes correlating clusters ofanswers and clusters of real time communications to the first users. 19.The computing apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first users areregistered in the data store to provide services via real timecommunications established via the connection server.
 20. The computingapparatus of claim 19, wherein the services include coaching.